UK’s first monkeypox patient slams UK Health Security Agency: ‘They did not contact me until I spoke to the media’
The first British monkeypox patient this year, James McFadzean, has criticised the UK Health Security Agency claiming the body responsible for the tracking and tracing the contagious virus did not contact him until he spoke to the media.
Speaking in his first television interview, McFadzean, who is a 35- year-old HR manager told TalkTV how he was diagnosed with the monkeypox after returning from Dubai at the end of May.
Asked what his first symptoms were and how he is feeling now James shared: “I actually feel much, much better now. It was very rough for the first week. But now I feel fit and well back to normal health.”
“I really didn’t think I had it. So, everything you hear everything you read talks about this tell-tale rash or lumps or pimples which I never had at any point of the illness.”
He added: “I fell ill much like a flu, fever, very exhausted back pain and on the calling local clinic they advised that I should go for a monkeypox test, which I was surprised by but I went along with it and get tested and I got that positive diagnosis.’
Farcical
James criticised the UK Health Security Agency who he claimed did not contact him until he spoke to the press:
“Funnily enough, they did not contact me until 10 minutes ago after my story broke.”
“All of a sudden, they found my right phone number. That kind of seems farcical because every day I’ve been calling my clinic, the NHS Trust trying to get someone to get people to call me so we can do contract tracing so we can identify other people at risk.”
McFadzean continued: “Because I was before the numbers started getting big so if they had trouble containing 50, 60, 70 cases, now they’re getting into the hundreds. I can only imagine how long it’s taking them to contact those people.”
UKHSA response
In response to McFadzean’s story, Dr Yimmy Chow, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, UKHSA said: “We had previously made multiple attempts to reach this individual by phone and email and have now successfully made contact.”
He added: “Anyone who suspects they might have Monkeypox, particularly if they have recently had a new sexual partner, to limit their contact with other people and contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service as soon as they can